Thursday, December 27, 2007

2/3 of a Christmas Miracle!

I think I was far too busy before Christmas to post the song I had been singing for a week or so about The Bug:

All I want for Christmas is her three eye teeth,
her three eye teeth,
her three eye teeth.
Gee, if she could only cut her three eye teeth,
then maybe we could get some sleepies!

Well it was a spectacularly badly timed wish because the actual cutting of the teeth makes her wake up very frequently all night long for a few miserable nights. And those were the nights when I most needed to be downstairs, wrapping presents, working on the cards (which I still haven't mailed... argh!) and cooking.

HOWEVER - we got 2/3 of my wish. The Bug cut her second lower eye tooth (my mom says the lower ones aren't called eye teeth, just the upper ones - but you know what I mean, right?) and one of the upper ones by/on Christmas. YAY! The cold she's got right now combined with the imminent (I hope) cutting of the last eye tooth are causing her sleep to continue to be utter crap, but man, I am so excited that we're this close. I am fully banking on getting more sleep between the cutting of that tooth and the 2-year molars starting to cause problems.

Oh crap, I hear noise from upstairs. May have to go quiet her again. Poor thing. I really think there's a good reason (or maybe more than one) that we don't remember being as little as The Bug is!

Short Christmas Summary

I think this pretty much sums it up.

Sweet Pea was an absolute angel on Christmas morning. She woke up before anyone else - well, except that if anyone else is awake, I'm awake, but she didn't know that I was awake while she sat up in bed being quietly excited. She tried to entertain herself quietly because the rest of us, as far as she could tell, were sleeping, but after a while and not being able to find a drink (we usually have drinks and snacks waiting for the girls in the bedroom in the morning so I can get my shower as soon as I wake up), she came back up on the bed and demanded to know where her drink was. The Bug had been partially awake and Sweet Pea talking sealed the deal. She sat up too, asking for apple juice. I poked Slipshod and said, "we have to get up now." He went downstairs and stationed himself with the video camera so he could tape Sweet Pea coming down the stairs and seeing the presents under the tree. She was SO excited! We had a fun time going through our stockings and opening presents, but unfortunately Santa didn't get Sweet Pea one thing that she just KNEW was going to be there. Santa had decided not to get it (it was a circular puzzle and all the pieces were different colors) for her because the company who made it classified it as a toy for the 2-3 age range. However, she didn't let the disappointment get the best of her, and played with the new toys and books that she did get.

The Bug just does not care about the act of opening presents but she does want to see what's inside, so I opened her presents for her, while she sat on my lap. She was very excited about the wooden choo choo and they both liked the race cars in their stockings... ha ha!

We didn't rush ourselves to get out of the house; we just had a nice relaxed day and Slipshod made breakfast and we played with toys and ate again later and watched (well, more like listened to) Mary Poppins and eventually took our showers... we didn't get to my sister's until dinnertime! I had figured we'd get there earlier but we didn't... but it worked out okay.

Unfortunately The Bug caught Sweet Pea's cold and Christmas Day was her very worst day of it. She had a fever that kept rising, and her breathing sounded pretty difficult. She kept a smile on her face throughout the day and evening, but could not wait to come home and get into bed after dinner and opening presents at her auntie's house.

After dropping me and the girls at home on Christmas night, Slipshod continued on to the airport, where he picked up one of my teenage nieces, who has been staying with us (until tonight). Yesterday my CA family came over to see my niece. Today the rest of the family is gone and we and my niece are just hanging out, doing laundry (yippee!), playing games on the XBox and the Wii, and essentially relaxing. Yay!

The girls are loving having their cousin here. Sweet Pea wants a big sister so she tends to call her teenage cousins her big sisters. ha ha!

Anyway, that's about it. There has, of course, been some family politics involved in all of this, but that's par for the course with any family, right? And we all did manage to have a good time, even if not everyone did what other people wanted or expected.

I'd write more but I feel like this is boring already and it's because I'm keeping an ear open for the girls, etc. So I'll write again and hopefully post more pictures when I have more time.

I hope you all had a great holiday! What have you got going on for New Year's? We've been invited to at least three parties. If we're going to one, it'll be the one in town.
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Monday, December 24, 2007

Still Swimming!

I was telling Slipshod that it seems like no matter how hard I'm working my bootie off, it's never quite enough and I never feel like I'm going to get it all done. I really wanted to just make cookies today, and otherwise sit around and play. However... I've done some carpet cleaning (more, actually - I started last night before bed), Slipshod has been washing dishes, and Slipshod is still going to make one more grocery run... but Sweet Pea has been able to just play all day, and The Bug got a good nap in her own crib for once (it's been so hectic lately she's missed naps a few days and other days had to take them in weird places and they haven't lasted for as long as they ideally should).

We did make it to our family Christmas party yesterday, and we all had a really good time. Sweet Pea woke up feeling SO much better yesterday, thank goodness! She still has a really yucky-sounding cough but otherwise has returned to her normal energy level, appetite, etc. The Bug's cold is getting worse but she is trying to be cheerful through it. What really pisses her off is when she can't breathe through her nose at night. Which means that both the eye-tooth-cutting and the not-being-able-to-breathe problems are keeping her awake most of the night. Sigh.

Still, we are having a good holiday and I'm SO glad we have today off between family gatherings. We still need to make cookies and reindeer food to put out tonight. And I'll be up wrapping presents. I of course wanted to have them all wrapped long before tonight, but you do what you can when you can... it has been a huge struggle to get things done each step (party) of the way around all The Bug's night wakings - and Sweet Pea was having those when she was in the throes of the worst of the cold, too. Kids waking up crying and/or coming down the stairs sort of put a cramp in the wrapping of the presents, y'know? And them needing me more in the middle of the night slows EVERYTHING else down, too.

But, Slipshod and I have finally made a meal plan for the next couple days and he's out, bless him, getting the groceries we'll need. While The Bug plays in the living room saying, "Hi Daddy!" over and over again. I'm not sure what she's doing... talking on her baby cell phone? Maybe. ha ha!

Okay, I really need to go wash the clothes we wore for yesterday's Christmas party (you know there's food all over them - both the girls' and mine) so we can wear them for tomorrow's too.

Saturday, December 22, 2007

The Fun Continues

Sweet Pea's temp today reached 101.3 and she was feelin' pretty crappy. Still lots of ribcage-rattling coughing going on. We're still hoping we're all going to be able to go to the Christmas shindig with Slipshod's family tomorrow (Sunday)...

The Bug's nose is running, and one of her eyes, but otherwise she's as chipper and silly as usual.

This is what our kids' bodies do when they get colds: Sweet Pea gets fevers that must be controlled with a somewhat regular regimen of Motrin and Tylenol to keep them from getting out of hand, and The Bug gets a supremely leaky face. I really hope that Sweet Pea is feeling tons better tomorrow and The Bug's cold doesn't get worse.

But guess what - a ray of light in all this downpour of illness: THE BUG HAS *FINALLY* CUT ANOTHER EYE TOOTH! I am ready to throw a freakin' party, people. She's still got her whole fist in her mouth most of the time so she can chomp on it, and both of the upper eye teeth still need to cut, but oh my gosh these teeth have been causing her so much pain and taking so much time to come out, I'm ready to throw a party for just one of the remaining three popping through the gums. I really think that one of the uppers might be through tomorrow, because it already REALLY looks like it's out of the gums. But whenever I feel that part of her gum with my finger, I do not feel a tooth. I guess the tooth is pushing so hard on the gums, the gums themselves are white. Poor kid! Yeesh!

Okay, must go finish wrapping that last present, pack the diaper bag, and put it all in the car. And then back to the usual grind of dishes and that laundry that I just cannot seem to get around to folding. I sure hope we can make the house look nice for our company (family) Christmas night.

The Latest

As far as I can tell, Slipshod alone of all of us is feeling fine.

The Bug's doctor appointment this week showed that her ears and throat are fine - she is (I should say *was*) not sick. That is wonderful news, but the sleep is still poor and she is still extra clingy. The doctor asked about her teething and blamed it on that, which I realized I would have thought of first any other time of the year. I wanted to get her ears checked because of the two recent colds and the really bad ear infection the last one caused.

Sweet Pea started coughing a few days ago. She started sounding worse and worse and yesterday reached an all-time horrible crecendo. She coughed so hard all day long that her chest hurts, and it looks like today will be more of the same. Yesterday she had a fever by breakfast time and didn't want to eat all day until dinnertime. She even took a 45-minute nap which she *asked for,* which is very unusual for her. She still has a low grade fever but is feeling better in terms of that - no more listlessness today, though she is definitely suffering some energy loss from all the coughing. But she slept well last night after we gave her a nasal decongestant and some 12-hour cough medicine.

I finally went to the doctor yesterday for my sore ear and throat. Horrible experience at the new doctor's office - had to wait over an hour to see the doctor for three minutes. Everyone there called me by the wrong name (left off the last 3 letters of my first name) despite the fact that I filled out the paperwork with my full name. Then the doctor all but patted me on the head for having actual thoughts. He also seemed to think it was really weird that I'm still breastfeeding The Bug at 18 months. The strep test came out negative but there is something white on the back of my throat on the side where it hurts, so he prescribed an antibiotic.

Last night at bedtime The Bug's nose started sounding stuffy. She's sneezing a lot and her nose is running a lot today, so she's obviously got Sweet Pea's cold. I hope we're all a lot better by Christmas...

And I hope that you are all faring better than we are!

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

Hells Bells

Alright, what's the big idea?

You remember the two colds and stomach bug during the past two months, right? Well, last Friday I had a sore ear in the morning. In the afternoon it turned into a lump in my throat that made it painful to yawn or swallow, and at one point seemed to suddenly grow very large or turn or something, and part of the right side of my lips/cheek/jaw actually became numb! It went away quickly but I have still had a painful something down in my throat since then. Yes, I did finally call a doctor today and I have an appointment on Friday of this week.

But that wasn't enough. The Bug has started acting like her right ear is hurting again. We haven't had another cold, and she got the all-clear two weeks ago! But her sleep is suffering worse again and she seems to be protecting the right side of her head if anyone gets near it. AUGH! I'm taking her to the pediatrician this afternoon at 4. After the Holiday Potluck Party at Sweet Pea's school.

That's not enough either. Sweet Pea and Slipshod both woke up with sore throats this morning. Sweet Pea says hers only hurts when she coughs, but she didn't cough before the first time she told me it hurt. AND, she wouldn't eat breakfast this morning, even though I made her favorite (Malt-o-Meal). She seems fine otherwise, but I've got my eye on her.

Oh - and of course, The Bug, who is very tired, won't nap. She just blew her only chance today. We'll be staying at school with Sweet Pea and then I have to take The Bug to the pediatrician. Some days it just doesn't pay to get up. I'm so stressed. AND I need to go now and make the deviled eggs we're taking for the pot luck. They're boiled and cooled, I just have to do the fun part. Maybe smashing the yolks will make me feel better.

Sigh.

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Hiyee

No time to write, just wanted to mention that The Bug went pee pee in the baby potty today! I think it was an accident, and she didn't let it all out, but it was a first!

Friday, December 14, 2007

Haiku Friday AND Yet Another Rushed Update

Haiku Friday

Christmas is coming
Cookie icing on my shoe
Sprinkles ev'rywhere

Up 'til 2 am
Shopping on the Internet
Express shipping, please!

Our Christmas tree fell
Lots of broken glass on floor
Now it's tilted back

Cookies for breakfast
School holidays coming up
Dad home for a week!

Between the two big
Holidays, I mean, of course
Cozy fam'ly time

Except for the teeth
Which need to have three fillings
Be brave, our Sweet Pea!

The cats keep trying
To get in my closet now
They can smell their gifts

Catnip mats for them
to play on, maybe keep them
entertained a bit

Shopping still to do
No rest for the weary, right?
Must wash dishes now

You know, every year I want to either be more organized for Christmas and have all our gifts for other people ready by the first of November, or - and this is what I REALLY want - to MAKE something that people can use rather than giving them more stuff. I had planned last year that I was going to make soap this year and that's what we would give family for Christmas (though we probably still would have bought for the kids in the family). Well, I never prepared even though I kept talking about it and when it came time to really get down to business, I couldn't find all my ingredients. I wasn't about to buy more because what I was really missing was the essential oils, which I buy in bulk. I am not about to buy more of those until I run out. SO, that means that in 2008 I really must find everything (I think I'll set myself a deadline, like March 1st or something) and if I start early enough, I can make this a leisurely thing throughout the year and be ready so far in advance for Christmas! That's what I thought last year too, of course. I'm hoping that since I didn't pull it off this year, I will have that much more inclination to follow through in 2008 - especially since so many people in our families are burned out with the gift giving. Nobody needs anything and most people don't want anything either, except for the kids. That's why I want to do a gift they can use up. Because most, of not all of them, really liked my soap when I was making it regularly.

ANYWAY - that is neither here nor there. Here's what *has* been going on. Last Saturday I took Sweet Pea to a birthday party - her first for a school friend - at a gymnastics school. It was a great idea - the kids want to run around like loonies anyway, right? So why not have them do that in a guided and super-fun way? They all had a great time. The next day Grandma S. and Boopa came to our house early in the morning and we all got ready to go for a drive. Then our neighbors followed us (we had Gma & Bpa in our van with us) to the Santa Cruz Mountains. We went to a Christmas tree farm that was pretty far away and had to drive on lots of twisty roads, but it was fun. Sweet Pea had begun acting strange first thing in the morning - whiny and didn't want breakfast (she had had a little something to eat upon waking, but it was still weird for her to be acting that way). When we got to the Christmas tree farm she got two rows into a very large field of trees and stopped, announcing that she wanted the little 2.5-foot tree in front of her. She wouldn't hear that it wouldn't look right in the living room because it's so small, or that we wouldn't buy her her own tree just for her room (which she doesn't spend that much time in). Boopa stayed with her while we walked around the farm looking for that perfect tree. The one we got must be 8 or 9 feet tall. We've never had a tree that tall before, but the ceiling in the house above where we were going to have the tree is two stories tall, so it didn't matter how tall it was - yay! However, I believe that the tree holder we have is not big or heavy enough to hold such a tall tree, and that is why the tree fell over a few nights ago. Oh well... live and learn...

After we and the neighbors chose and cut our trees and trussed them to the tops of our vehicles for the long drive home, most of us were quite hungry and decided to go to a restaurant for lupper (it was 3 or 4pm - too late for lunch but too early for dinner/supper). Sweet Pea whined and said she wanted to go home. She didn't eat at the restaurant but had fun running around, dancing, and hamming it up on the restaurant's stage with Speed Racer.

On the way home, however... Not long into the drive Sweet Pea acted a little weird and wouldn't answer me when I asked if something was wrong. I was in the back with The Bug, directly behind Sweet Pea, so I couldn't see her face. It was dark out but her light was on next to her seat and Boopa was watching her too. Presently he said, "OH, she threw up." Lemme tell ya, it smelled great. Blech. We were still in the mountains but Slipshod found a turnout pretty quickly and we wiped Sweet Pea up (she hadn't yakked too much, but it got all down the front of her shirt) and helped her rinse out her mouth and take a drink of water. She slept the rest of the way home. We formed a tentative concensus that Sweet Pea had probably just had a bit of car sickness because she had been looking down drawing before she got sick.

At bedtime The Bug, who had only napped for about half an hour all day, fell asleep hard and fast. Sweet Pea, however, was very awake and I decided I would rather just have her be awake downstairs with us than me stay up in the dark with her trying to get her to sleep when she didn't seem tired (which was not surprising, since she stopped napping nearly a year ago so now if she naps bedtime takes forever). I went to work taking the extra seats out of my van, moving the back seat up, and redoing the annoying seatbelt-through-the-carseat (our car was made one measly year before the LATCH system became standard in all vehicles) thing. While I was fighting with the seat belt and The Bug's car seat, Slipshod stuck his head out the door and said, "she's really sick - she just puked all over the couch and the carpet." So that was lovely too. From then on, for the whole next day, we made her carry a big bowl around everywhere with her so that if she couldn't make it to the toilet to throw up, she could yak in the bowl. If only we had done that earlier. Yeesh. But, hey, we can remove the couch cushion covers to wash them, and we have a carpet shampooer (although it's really making the rounds right now - was across the street last night for a coffee stain emergency, and now it's been picked up and taken to Slipshod's sister's apartment, which she is trying to get nice and clean before her parents-in-law spend Christmas with them). Whee.

So if you're counting, that's three illnesses we've had in our house in the past, what, 6 weeks? Two colds and then the stomach bug. Luckily, Sweet Pea was the only one who had the bug. WHEW!

We've got another birthday party (Speed Racer's) to attend tomorrow and part of me is wary of being around a bunch of kids again - who knows what Sweet Pea or The Bug might catch this time... I'm just hoping that everyone will be healthy and we don't end up with any new illnesses before Christmas.

Other than that - just lots and lots of chasing the kids around going on, lots of cookie making and decorating, Christmas shopping, oh, and of course we decorated our tree (before it fell down - now it needs to be redecorated), strung popcorn and cranberries, all that good stuff. Sweet Pea and I still want to make some paper chains. I think we'll make some just for fun, to hang around the house, and another that has enough rings to count down the days 'til Christmas.

I think that's about it. What's new with you?

Friday, December 07, 2007

Update on the Sitch(es)

Here's the scoop:

I'm pretty sure my herbalist is magic. Even though this is not physically possible, I actually felt better with each sip of her Uva Ursi tea the first couple times I took it. I've also been avoiding sugar (SO hard for me now that I'm addicted again) and drinking lots of horribly bitter 100% cranberry juice - diluted half & half with water so I can actually (just barely) stand to drink it. The upshot is that my bladder infection took off when it met up with the herbs and cranberry juice! I felt a lot better the morning after I started taking the tea and drinking the juice, and even better today. WAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Happy happy happy!

Sweet Pea is back to her normal self again and had a good, snot-and-cough-free week at school. They've apparently been learning about Hanukkah all week, lighting a menorah in the classroom and everything, and tonight she sang Hanukkah songs for hours between school and bedtime. No, not the Adam Sandler song - ha ha! She was singing, "Hanukkah, oh Hanukkah," and the draedel song.

Yesterday The Bug had an ear re-check and her 18-month checkup with the pediatrician. I am very happy to report that her ears are clear! YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!! As for her checkup, she's on track with all her developmental stuff and way ahead on the language (her newest favorite animal to talk about: "Opopus.". Growth-wise, she made an amazingly big jump! She has gained 5 pounds and grown 3 inches in the past 5 months. She went from 15th percentile in weight to 45th, and 30th percentile in height to 75th! !!!!! I am shocked and amazed because this is all new to me. Sweet Pea has always been very consistent in her growth so I've never seen a leap like that before. Zowie! In case you want the actual numbers - she weighs 23lbs. 2oz. and is 32inches tall. Oh - and of course her head is still in the 90th percentile. But you know all about the watermelon heads around here.

Happily we got our Slipshod back the night before last, tired but no worse for the wear or the airline delays.

Saturday's plans: Sweet Pea was invited to two birthday parties (of classmates) *on the same day.* I did not tell her that it was possible to attend both because I didn't want to spend the entire Saturday taking her to both. She easily and matter-of-factly chose the party I thought she would: The one for the girl she plays with regularly rather than the one for the boy who gives her a hard time on the playground. Yay! The party is at a strangely late time (4-5:30pm) to give other classmates the option of attending both parties - and it's at a gymnastics school, which should be fun. I'm going to leave The Bug home with Slipshod and take Sweet Pea to the party.

We didn't end up getting a Christmas tree last weekend because we discovered belatedly that the cut-your-own farm we had planned to go to here in town is closed this year. Der! So we decided to get crazy and plan a trip this Sunday instead, to a Christmas tree farm in the Santa Cruz Mountains. It will be fun - we're taking a set of grandparents and possibly caravanning (I'm sure that's not how you spell that, even if it is a word, which it's probably not, but I'm willing to bet you know what I mean) with the neighbors (not totally sure yet whether or not they're going). Yay! To be honest car trips longer than half an hour tend to stress me out - I hate to be far away from home when the baby is crying in the car - but things will probably be just fine and The Bug should sleep in one direction, if not both, on the drive. She's much more chill in the car than Sweet Pea was at her age anyway. There's a good chance that Sweet Pea will fall asleep in the car too. If we drive for long enough, she can't resist the lull of the white noise and the vibration of the tires on the road, etc.

I'm excited that we'll have a tree. I know that Sweet Pea is super excited about it, and I imagine that The Bug will be very interested in the idea of a tree inside the house, too. We'll put the soft ornaments at the bottom and I'm sure it'll get undecorated every day. ha ha! As long as she doesn't try to pull it over, everything will be fine.

We really must get our Christmas shopping going, though. I know I said in the title of the last post that I was doing that, but I got a certain amount done and then due to sickness in the house, poor sleepage of a severely teething child, etc., I stalled out. We really really need to catch up. The good news is that several people have actually told us what they want this year, and pointed us toward wish lists and stuff! That is SO helpful. Whew!

I had intended to make soap this year so that we could give our families something they liked but which they could use up, and it was going to be so stress-free because I was going to make it well before Thanksgiving, etc. Well, I still don't know where my essential oils are and I am not going to buy more of those until I use up what I have - somewhere. I have a lot; I used to buy in bulk when I was selling the soap.

Anyway, since I never got my butt in gear with soap production we have to go the old route of buying presents again this year, but somehow I am not letting it get to me that we're not done shopping yet, etc. Maybe I'm just so calm because I still haven't sat down to write out the list and really start shopping. I bet I'll get a little more stressed when I see "order by x day for Christmas delivery" notices on the websites. Heh... I hope you're all doing better than I am with this, especially those of you celebrating Hanukkah! Is Hanukkah early this year? It seems like it.

That is all for now.

Thursday, December 06, 2007

Can't Talk - Christmas Shopping

How does this happen every year? All of a sudden it's December and I only have about three presents in the house. That's not going to cut it for the umpteen family members we'll be exchanging gifts with in a few weeks. I thought I was off to a good start with the shopping but then suddenly - December arrived.

Well, part of the problem, of course, is that I am not an organized person and I don't lead a well planned life. But there's more to it than that. It's the weather. Yep. The weather.

See, I don't remember being born here in the Golden State, or living here until I was 2. I remember 12 years in West Virginia, where although there was by no means snow every year on Christmas (only sometimes), the weather at least had the decency to be cold, consistently, at least by November - and stay that way until April or May. We had four seasons there. So ever since we moved back to the land of the fruits, nuts and flakes, as they say, it has never felt like Christmas. At this point I have even lived back in CA longer than I lived in WV, but since my childhood Christmases were spent in a place with real weather (I guess that's the reason), I cannot make myself believe it's Christmas each year. Not even on Christmas Day.

Of course, now I'm having to "make" Christmas for the kids - you know, do fun holiday things with them, sing songs, start our own family traditions. I really believed that doing that with my own children would recreate the holiday for me somehow, and help me to believe that it could possibly be Christmas here where it was raining and in the low 50s two days ago, but sunny as all get out and in the mid-60s today.

It's just not happening. I feel like I just have to fake it every year. Does anyone know how I can get over this? It's kind of annoying!

In the mean time I'm trying to figure out what people want and what we're getting for whom, while the girls continue on their antibiotics (I think we've finally turned a corner; they're both acting more like themselves finally), Slipshod gets stuck in bad weather on a business trip (no worries, really, it was a short trip and he'll be home tonight - but it's still disruptive to have him away), and I'm starting to have a bladder infection. I know you really wanted to know that last bit - but it sort of puts the icing on the cake, y'know?

And tomorrow before school we're making The Bug miss her morning naptime (she'll nap in the afternoon instead) to get her ears re-checked and to have her 18-month checkup, Saturday Sweet Pea has a birthday party to attend at the local gymnastics school, and Sunday we'll be driving a long ways to cut down our own Christmas tree in the Santa Cruz Mountains. I'm not complaining about any of that except for The Bug's appointment - she literally shakes with fear when she's being examined by doctors, and she'll be getting shots, so SUCK all around.

I just hope the bladder infection goes away quickly. Since I STILL don't have a doctor locally, I'm fighting the infection with herbs and cranberry juice. I hope they work while I'm sleeping and I feel better in the morning. I'd rather do that anyway - I hate taking antibiotics - but I'm not naive enough to think that I will definitely get through this on herbs and cranberry alone, because I think it may have taken me too long to figure out what it was and the infection may have gone too far to be treatable with the more natural and gentle options.

Send happy thoughts...

Sunday, December 02, 2007

It's Tough Growing Up

The kids are still feeling yucky. While Sweet Pea has had a really bad time with excessive snot for the past week+, I think The Bug has had the worst of it. She never got nearly as snotty as her sister and she never got the rattle-cough either, BUT - first she had the cold, and while that was going on she had really bad constipation for a few days. I have no idea why and was starting to get worried but reminded myself that even though she was experiencing a lot of pain with pooping, she was still pooping. Sometimes 4 or 5 times per day. So it wasn't like she had a blocked system or anything. But the pain of it was horrible for her, and I felt so bad. I couldn't get her to drink any prune juice, but I did feed her plenty of fruit and some dried apricots. I think the biggest problem was that she wasn't drinking enough from a cup. She nursed all night long some nights, but apparently that's not enough.

But I digress. So The Bug had the cold. And constipation. Then she got the horrible ear infection, for which we had to start giving her antibiotics. So now as you would probably expect, the constipation turned VERY quickly to diarrhea because of the medication. So her bum is in a ton of pain STILL, only this time the pain is spread over a much broader area and lasts longer. And she's still got 7 more days (that's 14 doses) before she's finished with the antibiotics.

As if that weren't enough, she's never stopped cutting teeth since she started, and right now she's working on at least one of the three eye teeth that still remain inside the gums. Yesterday she was still poking at her ear and acting miserable about that. Today I didn't see her poking her ear, but she had her hands, and the remote control, and whatever else she could find, in her mouth, and she was chomping like there was no tomorrow.

Poor kid.

I've been giving the girls yogurt at every meal but obviously that's not keeping things in check in The Bug's digestive system. I wish she was old enough to take acidophilus pills. Tomorrow I think we'll start off our day with Cream of Rice cereal and have some mashed potatoes with our lunch (though I don't think The Bug will eat them). Sweet Pea ate a bunch of banana chips with dinner tonight, which could also help, and I'm hoping that she just won't have as much of a problem with the antibiotics as The Bug is. Thankfully she only has to take a 7-day dose total, but she has to take so much that we could have the same problem as The Bug. WHEW that Sweet Pea knows how to use the potty! But I'm still concerned about her having an accident at school. She can probably handle it, though.

Stay tuned...